Electronic products have become an integral part of our daily lives. This has created a consistent if not increasing expectation for new features, higher speed, more data, improved portability, etc. These demands have driven the development of electronic technology to reduce size, improve utility, and increase performance of the integrated circuit devices in an ever-increasing range of products such as cell phones, music players, televisions, and automobiles.
Packages of components such as semiconductor circuits, transistors, diodes, and other electronic devices must also become smaller and thinner with more functions and connections. In packaging components, the need for connecting packages with ever smaller connections influences robustness of the connections.
However, mass-production of integrated circuits is hampered by the high cost of the equipment necessary for a standard molding process. High temperatures and pressures not only increase the amount of equipment necessary, they also increase the chance of damage to internal components, reducing yield.
Thus, a need still remains for an integrated circuit packaging system that lowers the total cost of manufacture. In view of the increasing costs of raw materials, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.